Book Marketing Matters™
Brian Jud's free, bi-weekly ezine dedicated to helping you get your fair share of sales in special-sales (non-bookstore) markets, and sell more books profitably
Volume 14, Issue 122, Number 340 October 26, 2015 |
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| | Greetings!
Here is your October 26 edition of the Book Marketing Matters special-sales ezine by Brian Jud. It contains regular columns with tips from Dan Poynter, John Kremer, Guy Achtzehn, Rick Frishman, Eric Kampmann, Paulette Ensign, Judith Briles, Tonya Evans and Roger C. Parker. The guest columnist in this issue is Patricia Fry.
This newsletter is sent by subscription only. Please pass this information along to people you feel may benefit by it. If there were any problems with this delivery, please let me know. If you prefer to have this sent to you as a pdf, please reply with "pdf" in the subject line or body copy. If you no longer wish to receive this -- or if you received it in error -- please reply with "Remove" in the subject line. All of us at Book Marketing Works wish you success in your book-marketing efforts, Brian Jud Click here to view this newsletter as a pdf document |
(The Association of Publishers for Special Sales ) | FedEx discounts for APSS members! FREE MEMBER BENEFIT! Exclusive discounts on select FedEx® services. When you enroll in the APSS Shipping Program, a free APSS member benefit, you save up to 31%* on select FedEx® services. If you already have a FedEx account, it's a no-brainer! PartnerShip will ensure you're receiving the best possible pricing and link the discounts to your existing account. If you are not currently using FedEx, an account will be created for you when you enroll. Either way, you'll be on your way to saving!
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Discover This Week's "Marketing Tips" - at www.bookapss.org (changed every Thursday)
- Top Ten Lessons About Innovation From DARPA's Success
- Get your book cover or marketing message on promotional items such as coffee mugs, pens, pads, bookmarks, key chains, shirts, umbrellas or any of hundreds of other promotional products. Get free consulting on using promotional items
- Find sample marketing plans for selling books in many genres
- Are you solving the right problem? Find out how you can. Get Unstuck with a new idea every week
- Novel Ideas - This website offers a retreat and conference center, provides overnight accommodations and spiritual retreats at reasonable prices for creative writers. It also provides education and arts opportunities. If you want to conduct a writing seminar, it makes a great host venue, with meeting rooms, classrooms, living room with fireplace, onsite food service, outdoor pool and labyrinth.
- Read It and Reap -- A new book business book is reviewed each week
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| We can sell your books to non-bookstore buyers -- non-returnable | | Do you want us to sell your books?
Commission-based special sales. Non-returnable. We pay shipping
We get about 3,000 hits per month  on the ESP search engine. Most of the titles in our program receive some action on a regular basis. We cannot show them all, but here is a list of the direct inquires for which we send sample books. We usually customize them with the customer's logos or with a tip-in insert page. www.premiumbookcompany.com |
Notes From the Front Lines (Excerpted - with permission - from the Book Publishers' Handbook, by Eric Kampmann, President, Midpoint Trade Books ekampmann@aol.com) | The Seven Signposts on the Road to Good Publishing. Publishing books is like taking a journey. You need a map to point the way; or signposts to guide you. For example, when I backpack I look for blazes on trees. Or, if I am above the tree line, I seek out cairns or stone markers that I follow with care so I stay on the trail. As with any journey, a good publisher knows he must follow certain signposts to successfully produce, sell, and market his books. Ignore an important signpost and you can get lost, or go in the wrong direction. Each marker represents a decision you must make - sometimes on your own or with the advice and counsel of someone with more experience. Over the next few issues of Book Marketing Matters I will describe one of seven signposts on the road to good publishing. Here is the third. Signpost #4: Pricing. Pricing a book requires an understanding of what each book costs to make - so you get a return on your investment; and what else is in the marketplace - so the price offers good value and is also competitive. Book-sales professionals understand the market and its fluctuations. They keep in close touch with major retail and wholesale accounts using them as sounding boards and sources of additional information. They use their knowledge to help determine the best price. Everyone wants to make money and have their book reach the right audience. Price is essential in making both happen. |
| | Offer your remainders and over-stocked books directly to the national and regional chain bookstores through a one-time-only "white sale." Contact the remainder or bargain-book buyer at the chains and send them a sample book and promotional material. Chain bookstores will pay slightly more than remainder dealers (wholesalers) - about 5% of list, possibly more, depending on the book. |
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Almost Lost, Nearly Found:  A Novel of Sisters and Secrets by Nancy Hammarslough This novel about two sisters, one who follows the rules and one who doesn't, is set at the end of World War II. The publisher wanted to visually communicate the time period to the buyer. To accomplish this, we chose sepia tones and a traditional wood picture frame with a crocheted doily underneath. The photo of the girls also supports the story. One sister wears a pure white hat, the other wears a hat with a bolder design. |
| The Book Shepherd - Judith Briles Dr. Judith Briles is The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and Chief Visionary Officer of AuthorU (www.AuthorU.org). She is the author of 34 books including The CrowdFunding Guide for Authors & Writers and Author YOU: Creating and Building Your Author and Book Platforms. Register for her online course, How to Write a NonFiction Book in 4 Weeks and connect on Twitter @MyBookShepherd. Her radio podcast, AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing, gets over 300,000 downloads each month and can be heard at http://bit.ly/AuthorURadio | Don't get caught up in the most common blunders authors make. When asked the simple question, "Who is your book for?" they say: "My book is for everybody." Nonsense ...take off your shades ... otherwise you will continue to live in Delusional Land. If your book is for "everybody," that means you mean it's written for men, women, children, babies, and everything in between. It means that it's for every religious hat; every type of sports and nature lover; anyone of any political persuasion (or not) ... EVERYONE. No way Jose will it reach EVERYONE. The more you niche who you write for, the bigger your market can become. It's so much easier to be the whale in the pond versus the sardine in the sea. |
You're On The Air (Benita Zahn, Noon News anchor and talk-show host on WNYT-TV, Albany, NY) | For women, wear what you're used to wearing. Put on the same makeup as you always do. Nothing garish, but something you would normally wear as street makeup. For men, powder your face, just a little to cover a receding hairline and tone your face down so you won't be shiny. |
The Very Idea (Editorial by Brian Jud) |  Be prepared to talk about your book anytime, anywhere. If you are proficient at speaking before groups, you may also be able to sell your books at list price following your presentations. This is called back-of-the-room selling, and It can be profitable. And superior speaking skills make your in-store events and library tours more effective. Get meeting planners to buy your books beforehand. Persuade them to buy enough for everybody in the audience, and then refer to it during your presentation to reinforce important points. Encourage advance purchases by incorporating the cost of the books in your speaking fee. Whenever Judith Briles is contracted to speak for a group, she brings her books with her. "People buy them at full retail. And returns aren't an option. Initially, I only accepted checks or cash. But when I got a merchant account, sales doubled," she said. Her personal record for onsite sales was at a conference in Salt Lake City where approximately 700 heard her speak. In six hours, she sold $15,000 in books. You can still make money from back-of-the-room sales even if you abhor public speaking by having other speakers sell your products for you. Contact professional speakers who are knowledgeable on your topic to see if they would be willing to sell your titles for a percentage of the sale. Locate speakers in a nearby chapter of the National Speakers Association http://www.nsaspeaker.org or Toastmasters International at http://www.toastmasters.org/ |
Ideas for Selling to Non-Bookstore Buyers Guy Achtzehn (President of The Promotional Bookstore, offering commission-based sales of books to non-bookstore buyers, guy@msgpromo.com) | Forget target marketing for a moment. When looking for opportunities to sell your books, try not to think too specifically about the type of business you are selling to. Because you have a book on How to Save and Invest Money, does not mean that your best customers would be banks and credit unions. In fact, it may be the exact opposite! Selling cookbooks to restaurants would be in the same thought process, and that would be tough. Instead, think about your sales in a more general way: "WHO would benefit from this information" is the key to finding customers. In our example of the book How to Save and Invest Money, the ideal readers may be high school students, or young adults. And where are these types of people? In high schools, malls, on social websites, etc. Look for opportunities for a gift with purchase, free gift for a download or membership, or look for local small business people who would want to donate these books to high schools to be given to promising seniors. If the books contain the small business name, logo, contact info, etc, it makes for a great advertising piece that will be kept and referred too over a long period of time. |
Leadership and Growth Concepts - Tom Hill (Founder and CEO of the Eagle Goal Coach, an organization devoted solely to assisting others find and follow their life's passion. Tom can be reached at tom@tomhillwebsite.com) | How does one go about "Designing an Exceptional Life"? It's a process, a long battle between defeat and success, but in the end it's about having the mindset to see it through, to make it a reality. We know that at least part of the formula requires two words or actions: passion and perseverance.
The definition of passion is: a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. You will need this when you feel all hope is lost, it's the "why" behind your motivation.
The definition of perseverance is: the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult. You have all probably heard, "When you know your why, you can endure anyhow." Perseverance comes from knowing your why and then executing the how, regardless of circumstances.
When you combine the two, great things start to happen. Does it happen overnight? Of course not. Will it happen? Well, it depends on how bad you are willing to work for it. |
Marketing Planning (Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan: 461 Tips for Profitable Marketing Planning; www.bookmarketing.com) | Have you ever looked at a photograph taken of your kids, pets or trees years ago? You were probably amazed at their growth over the years because you were unaware of their minute, daily changes. Your marketing plan can have the same impact on you. If you look back on your plans made years ago you will see how far you have come. |
Book-Marketing Tips - Roger C. Parker | How to Make Your Newsletter Timeless. Would you buy yesterday's newspaper, or read a month-old newspaper? Probably not. Even if the articles were interesting, you'd view them as "old news." Your marketing newsletters, however, can easily be made "timeless." The trick is to focus each issue on helpful, relevant, "evergreen" information, topics that won't immediately go out of date. Providing helpful, relevant, timeless content in your newsletters lets you promote and distribute each issue for months- -even, years- -after its initial publication. In addition, if you are distributing your newsletters as formatted and downloadable PDF files, avoid adding the current month and year to each issue. Instead, use a number to identify each issue. For example, you could use 2-06 to indicate the sixth issue published in second year of your newsletter's publication. With a little advance planning, you can even re-use topics first written for your newsletter as chapters in upcoming books and e-books, or as articles, blog posts, podcasts, or speeches. |
Marketing Strategy
(Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, The Buck Starts Here: 635 Tips for Creating Successful Marketing Strategy; www.bookmarketing.com) | Help Your Titles Grow. Titles are like people in the sense that they will grow according to their individual needs and circumstances. Each title you publish may flourish by using habitual marketing techniques, but in most cases each one will be different enough to require a unique growth plan. Define the unique benefits each title offers its target readers, design a dual distribution network (bookstores and special markets), price each according to the value it provides readers, and create a distinctive promotional plan using publicity, advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. |
Legal Matters That Matter to Writers (Contact Professor Evans at Legal Write Publications, info@legalwritepublications.com or www.legalwritepublications.com; The information contained in this column is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you need advice regarding a specific legal matter, consult a lawyer as each case is fact-specific.) | How is copyright created? If you have created an original literary or artistic work in some tangible form - in writing or on film or tape or canvas, for example - then you don't have to do anything. You automatically own a copyright in your work. |
Booklet Ideas - Paulette Ensign | Your topic is not saturated and there is really no such thing as common sense regardless of how basic you think your information is. There is always more to learn and more people to reach no matter how many people in your immediate circle you believe know most of what you seem to know. You may have been taught early on in your life that white vinegar is a great cleaning agent, yet someone on their late 60's who is otherwise above-average intelligence never had reason to know that particular bit of information. Here you are, an expert in household cleaning, organizing, parenting, or some other field, and you hold the belief that "everyone already must know that." The FACT is that everyone does not know that. You know many other things about white vinegar when it comes to cooking, too, and how it works in various types of cuisine or dealing with canning things you grow in the garden. Because you have been using white vinegar in so many ways for so many years, you find yourself making an assumption that everyone who gardens and preserves their harvest or everyone who cooks probably already knows what you know. They don't. Those people definitely know things you do not know. People taught each of you different things. Each of you came to your interests at different times in your life and is at different places on your journey learning basics and more advanced information. You each had different needs to know. The person who did not realize white vinegar is an effective cleaning agent may not have ever cleaned their own home or things in it. Or they only thought commercially made cleaning products were the best. As surprising as any of that may be to you, not only is it true, it opens up possibilities for you that you never considered. After all, YOU never knew all of what you know today, as amazing a grasp of the obvious as that is. Thinking back on the basics in your professional or personal life opens doors for sharing your experiences and information in ways that may never have occurred to you. Whether it turns out to be 52 Ways to Use White Vinegar in Your Life or 52 Cool Ideas to Occupy Your Child on a Cross Country Car Trip, you have thought of things other people have not. At the very least, the information you have already put together and are bringing to the marketplace may need to be redirected to a new audience you have yet to approach. There are always people, companies, and organizations reaching different points in their life ripe for what you have. ACTION - Revisit the expertise you have that you already put together for sale or are considering packaging and selling. The most likely place to take it is only one of many places to start or re-direct your efforts. Whether you get an immediate warm reception the first places you go, or it takes a while to reach an open door, keep in mind that there are people who not only don't know what you know, there are companies and associations who will find your information useful for their marketing and sales purposes. |
Guest Columnist - Patricia Fry
(Patricia Fry has been writing for publication for 40 years. She has 39 books to her credit, including several for authors: "Publish Your Book," Promote Your Book," and "Talk Up Your Book," available at Amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio and most other online and downtown bookstores. She is the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Sign up for her new enewsletter, Publishing/Marketing News and Views http://www.patriciafry.com) | The Benefits of the Author Interview. As the author of a nonfiction book, do you frequently seek interview opportunities and accept those that come your way? I suggest that you do. An interview with a blogger, editor, website manager or radio/TV show host can benefit you and your book in the following ways: - Having your interview published in a magazine or newsletter, or at blog sites and websites, for example, is a good way for you to expand your readership and become more widely known in your field or on your topic.
- It gives you new material to use in your promotional efforts. You can point your blog, Twitter and Facebook followers to the interview, post excerpts in your blog and at your website, use portions of it in your promo pieces, and so forth.
- The questions and your responses might inspire you to compose new articles for appropriate publications and even write new books or booklets related to your topic or the theme of your book.
- The line of questioning may give you some food for thought about your project, your promotional tactics and your career. Consider this an opportunity to reflect and possibly regroup and adopt new and better marketing strategies.
Interviews can be challenging. You don't always know how the questions will be framed, so you are pretty much speaking off the cuff. It's not easy to respond intelligently and succinctly on the spur of the moment. So each interview is a learning experience and good practice for future live presentations. Tip: Toastmasters clubs are good venues to learn effective interview techniques as each meeting includes the opportunity to participate in Table Topics, an impromptu speaking exercise. |
Kremer's Korner (Excerpted - with permission - from John Kremer's Sixth Edition of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Contact John at http://www.bookmarket.com) | Because of certain laws and union contracts, some corporations are now required to provide retirement planning for employees, as well as help for those they lay off or fire. Books are great resources for either program. Monsanto bought 800 copies of Crisp Production's Retirement Planning Guide to give to its employees to help them with their retirement plans. |
| | Have a take-away. Readers must receive some benefit. In most nonfiction books such as business, relationship, and how-to books, readers are not reading for pleasure, but to learn. Readers also want to learn from memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies while they enjoy a good read; they want to get something from every book. |
Helpful Website of the Week - Adele M. Annesi
(Adele is a freelance writer and an editor with a high-tech analysis firm in Stamford, CT and may be reached at a.annesi@sbcglobal.net) | 
XNote Stopwatch Losing precious moments to nonessential writing tasks? This digital stopwatch will help you track your time. |
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A Social Media Primer for Authors and Writers By Barbra Drizin Today, it's not a choice. It's a necessity for authors /writers to have a social media presence in order to succeed. Even publishers will ask you, "What social media platforms are you on and how many followers do you have?" So what are the top social media platforms today? Which ones will benefit you? Why? How?
Barbra presents a practical overview of social media platforms with live examples. Our tour includes:
*Facebook *Twitter * LinkedIn *Goodreads * Blogs *E-Newsletters *YouTube *Pinterest *The Benefits of a Facebook Author Page. Nov 12 - 6:00 PM EST Register at |
Get Links to All of Jud's
Book Marketing Webinars | I have conducted over 50 webinars that can help you sell more books. Watch and listen as I describe how to increase your sales to non-bookstore buyers, how to get on TV and radio shows, get more publicity, conduct bookstore events, get more reviews and awards and more.Get links to recordings of my 60 - 90 minute webinars.
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Buy Lines -- Free Information | Do you need a jump-start to get your sales moving? If so, consider a one-hour consultation with Brian Jud. Get answers that will ignite your sales efforts. Brian can help you create a quality product, distribute it to markets you may not even know exist, price it profitably and promote it more effectively so you can...
Sell more books
Beat your competition
Become more profitable
Sell in untapped, lucrative markets
Minimize -- if not eliminate - returns
Contact BrianJud@bookmarketing.com for more information |
| Sell More Books, Make More Money In Special Sales |  Now Available - the most current and complete resource for increasing your sales and profits in non-bookstore markets.
The ultimate do-it-yourself guide to selling your books in large quantities with no returns. Not just who to contact, but when and how.
By Brian Jud -- $24.95
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| Do You Want to Increase Your Sales, Revenue and Profits? |  A one-day workshop in your office -- customized to your titles -- shows your staff how to make large-quantity sales |
| |  Increase Your Profits with Sales Promotional Items Get your book cover or marketing message on promotional items such as coffee mugs, pens, pads, bookmarks, key chains, shirts, umbrellas or any of hundreds of other promotional products. See more examples at www.bookapss.org/PromoItems.pdf Find out how you can use promotional items to: · Lure new customers · Remind procrastinators to buy · Encourage repeat purchases · Create brand awareness · Boost sales · Create customer loyalty · Attract more people to your trade-show exhibit · Spread word-of-mouth advertising · Have a fun giveaway for book signings and other events Contact Guy Achtzehn at The Promotional Bookstore, guy@msgpromo.com or (717) 846-3865. Provide your APSS membership number for a 10% discount on promotional items
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Contact Information for Brian Jud
| | For copies of all the previous issues of Book Marketing Matters visit www.bookmarketingworks.com/mktgmattersnews To subscribe to Book Marketing Matters click here: I won't share or sell your email address. Discover even more information about non-bookstore marketing by visiting the Special-Sales Tip of the Week at www.bookmarketing.com
Brian Jud now offers commission-based sales to buyers in special markets and several other programs to contact prospective buyers in special markets for you through personal sales calls, customized mailings and telephone calls. There is a program for any budget. www.premiumbookcompany.com Brian is also an author and book-marketing consultant helping publishers market and promote their books to increase their sales and profits. Find rated lists of suppliers to publishers at www.bookcentralstation.com. Brian is a media trainer, frequent speaker at publishing events and host of the online Publisher's Bookstore listing many discounted titles on publishing, publicity, planning, marketing, publishing law, design and writing.
Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (800) 562-4357; brianjud@bookmarketing.com or go to http://www.bookmarketing.com
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I wish you success in your book marketing efforts. There are several ways in which I can help you sell more books more profitably. Let me tell you how by emailing your contact information to me at brianjud@bookmarketing.com. Sincerely, Brian Jud
Book Marketing Works |
| | | Brian Jud now offers commission-based sales to buyers in special markets and several other programs to contact prospective buyers in special markets for you through personal sales calls, customized mailings and telephone calls. There is a program for any budget. www.premiumbookcompany.com Brian is also an author and book-marketing consultant helping publishers market and promote their books to increase their sales and profits. Brian is a media trainer, frequent speaker at publishing events and host of the online Publisher's Bookstore listing many discounted titles on publishing, publicity, marketing and writing. Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (860) 675-1344; brianjud@bookmarketing.com or go to http://www.bookmarketing.com |
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